Gene Wars

Launched in 1990 with federal support, the Human Genome Project to map the genetic code embodied in the six feet of DNA coiled inside every human cell holds the promise of identifying the genes involved in specific diseases. Cook-Degan, a physician and consultant who directed a 1988 Congressional study on genome research and is now with the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, tracks the program's early history and politics in this absorbing study. James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA's double-helix structure, was the genome project's first director; his status as the ``father of DNA'' helped win funding from Congress by mollifying critics who deemed the project overcentralized Big Science of dubious practical value. As the project became a global collaborative effort, U.S. scientists clashed with Japanese researchers eager to wed its goals to corporate biotechnology interests. Yet a similar process now seems to be underway in the U.S. with the expanding role of commercial investment in genome research. Cook-Degan weighs the ethical issues surrounding the genome project, which raises the specter of discrimination in employment and insurance through genetic screening and testing. (Mar.)